Mobile electronic devices, such as cellular phones, smart phones, mobile computing device, or one or more other mobile electronic devices, include one or more energy storage components, such as a lithium-ion battery, etc., that require charge.
Traditional chargers include constant-current or constant-voltage chargers. A constant-current charger can apply a constant charging current to the battery at the beginning of a charging cycle, when the voltage of a battery is low. Once the voltage of the battery reaches a threshold, a constant-voltage charger can apply a constant charging voltage at or near the desired full-charge voltage of the battery, until the battery is fully charged.
Other charging methods have developed, including linear, switch-mode, or pulse chargers. A linear charger can use a pass transistor in an active mode to reduce a travel or other adapter voltage to a desired battery voltage. However, such a charger dissipates a relatively large amount of power in reducing the travel adapter voltage to the desired level. In contrast, a switch-mode charger can use a pass transistor in either a fully-on or a fully-off state, dissipating a substantially smaller amount of power. A pulse charger combines the benefits of linear and switch-mode chargers, pulsing a constant-current pulse to charge the battery.